


Sisterhood

by SmallRedRobin13



Series: Both Sides Of The Credit Chit [17]
Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: Backstory, Descriptions I'm Proud Of, I'm Bad At Summaries, possible feels ahead, so there isn't one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-05
Updated: 2016-10-05
Packaged: 2018-08-14 15:57:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8020105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmallRedRobin13/pseuds/SmallRedRobin13





	1. My Old Family

Memories are the worst form of torture. I should know, I relive mine daily. The ones that bind me the strongest usually involve my father, not the man who raised me, Kadour, but my real father. The one who reeked of alcohol, slurred constantly and responded only with violence. My real mother was a mouse, cowering and hiding in tiny holes not big enough for both of us around the house. Her selfishness filled those mouse holes to the brim. That didn't stop my father from tearing those holes apart in his rage, giving me a choice: stay and endure tortures worthy of those devised by a Sith Inquisitor or try my already bad luck on the streets. I figured I had already crashed and burned at rock bottom, so it couldn't get any worse.  
Right?  
Wrong. I starved on the streets, begging for meager food scraps, stagnant water and credits that no one would accept. Being Mirialan, an alien, only made it worse. Names like "lemon-skin", "sewer-scum" and "alien trash" were tossed at me on a daily basis. By Republic citizens, no less. I kept moving in the faint hope that I would find a place I could call home someday until one day, one strange, beautiful, magical day I happened across the spaceport at the age of six.

Unlike the rest of the city, the spaceport was neat and spotless. The bright walls nearly blinded me, my eyes unused to such hygiene. I was like a needle in a haystack; out of place, lost and impossible to find. My appearance did not match my surroundings, I wore a torn shirt, a pair of dirtied pants and no shoes. Instead, my bare feet were hardened but bloodied from an unnoticed broken bottle lying on the sidewalk. My hair -since I had no means of caring for it- was tangled and greasy while my yellow skin, a sign of my Mirialan heritage was almost black from the grime of the city streets. But the looks the people in the spaceport gave me were far dirtier. I knelt down beside the stairs leading out to the city.  
"Please, just one credit, that's all I need." I pleaded to the people passing by. They turned away, their ears comprised of stone and their hearts comprised of ice. I stretched my filthy hands out towards them only to watch them shy away from my touch. I really should've been used to it by that point, considering I'd spent a month on the streets already. But I was only six, and the scathing looks cut deeper than any lightsabre or betrayal could now, hopefully. Two new rivers slid down my cheeks as the humiliation and sadness began to finally to sink into my very soul. I was exhausted and hungry with nowhere to go, no sanctuary to turn to. At that moment I wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball and sleep. My hand wiped the fresh tears from my face, blocking my vision for a split second. The moment I looked back up, two men, a Twi'lek and a Devaronian had stopped and were looking down at me.  
"Are you okay?" the Twi'lek asked quietly, kneeling down so he was level with me. His skin was a pale blue, like the sky on a clear, sunny day and his eyes were amethyst purple, sparkling as if someone had shone a torch on the gem. The Devaronian's skin was lime green, with eyes that brought to mind a thick forest; green with brown flecks.   
"No," I sobbed, "I'm tired, I'm hungry and I have nowhere to go!"  
"Hey, hey, don't cry," The Twi'lek said soothingly, "I'm Sabnagu and this is Jorh. Why don't you come with us? I'm sure we can find a place to stay."  
I sniffed, trying to staunch the flow of water from my eyes as I got to my tired feet. I later heard somewhere that people cry when their brain believes that it is out of options, which summed up my situation pretty well. It would probably end badly, but I figured that I had nothing left to lose as I gave my answer.  
"Okay."

Sabnagu and Jorh led me to their starship, a lightly armoured freighter with a painting of a comet passing by a star on the side. I illiterate at that point so the name of the ship was unknown to me. It still is, come to think of it. Anyway, they took me to their ship, patched up my feet and gave me something to eat. I wolfed it down, licked the plate clean and immediately asked for more, causing Sabnagu to laugh.  
"She's got a hearty appetite!" He commented,  
"Of course she does! She probably hasn't eaten a square meal for a while now!" Jorh snapped. Sabnagu looked hurt until Jorh gave in and apologised, as he slid another full plate in front of me. Once I'd had my fill, Sabnagu took me to the cargo bay and dug out some clothes for me. Most while a pale cream and a little too large for my body thinned by the streets. I noticed how fondly Sabnagu handled the clothes, as if they were a family heirloom. With no regard to my saviours feelings, I pointed to them.   
"Who do those belong to?" I asked, leaning against a crate.   
"Those are, or were my sister's." Sabnagu replied, handing me a pair of red, sparkly and slightly large shoes.   
"Where is she now?"   
"With our parents. I'm... not on good terms with them."   
Even I, a young girl with no experience with social situations, knew better than to press the matter. As Sabnagu led me to the crew's quarters we passed the captain's room and I noticed how both sides of the bed where used. I also noticed a severe lack of used bunks and lockers in the simple yet homely crews quarters.  Sabnagu dumped a bag of clothes he'd gathered from the cargo bay and swept his hand across the room.   
"Take any bunk you want, it doesn't matter. You can keep the spare clothes. We'll wake you when we get to Port Nowhere." He directed, spinning on his heel and walking out. I slept well that night, dreaming of flying high in the sky, far away from all my troubles. It was a fulfilling dream, one Jorh and Sabnagu let me enjoy by not waking me up when we reached Port Nowhere as promised. When I did wake up, I could hear the soft murmur of voices from the captain's quarters. With stealth I couldn't come close to mustering today, I crept down the hallway, coming to a stop just outside.   
"Sleep well dear?" Jorh inquired, speaking to Sabnagu.   
"Yeah. I've been thinking..."   
"No we can't keep her. She needs to have a legal and normal life. She would never have that with us."   
"Name one person we know who is both normal  _and_ legal."  
"The Smiths?"   
"No."   
"The Marisus?"  
"No way. Can you imagine living in a household where the eldest is considered perfect in every single way?"   
"Point taken."   
There was a moment of silence as Jorh mulled over the issue.   
"What about the Hirts?" He tried at last, a tinge of exasperation in his voice.   
"Are you crazy? Since when is smuggling legal?"   
"Saskali's always wanted children. Besides, do you know anyone else who could take her?"   
"We could!"   
"No. Think about it, a child might set Saskali on the straight and narrow, leaving us with less competition."   
"As I recall, you said that about her husband."  
"How was I to know Kadour moonlighted as a conman?"   
Sabnagu sighed while Jorh groaned, defeated.   
"How about we compromise? We go to meet the Hirt's and if she doesn't like them, she doesn't have to go with them." Jorh suggested, as Sabnagu smirked.  
"I knew you'd come around. I'll go and wake her."   
He got out of bed, pulled on some clothes and walked out to the halway, yawning and spotting me almost instantly.   
"How much of that did you hear?"


	2. My New Family

Together we walked through the space station to the main cantina, hand in hand. We must have looked like a very strange family, especially with my pout. The reason I was so upset was due to a matter of treatment. Both Sabnagu and Jorh had been very kind to me but I felt like one of Sabnagu's sister's hand-me-downs, something to be used then passed on. I was dragging my feet and visibly seething with unspent rage by the time we reached the cantina. It was showing everywhere to. The air surrounding me was crackling with anger and people who got too close found themselves rudely shoved out of the way by what I later learned was the Force. It was pure luck alone that got us to the meeting place without incident. Or maybe any would be attackers were far too scared to come close, I don't know.

The cantina was overwhelming in every imaginable way. The noise was deafening, there were creatures of every possible race and creed and every possible space was filled with bright colours. I was lead to a small, slightly quieter table near the back where a young couple was seated. The woman had long, muddy-river brown hair, which was held back in an intricate braid that flowed down her back. Her eyes where a whirlpool and her nose tilted ever-so-slightly to the left. The man had ruler straight blond hair and merry brown eyes. We sat down with them and the woman smiled.  
"Sabnagu! Jorh! You made it!"  
My rescuers returned the smile and I countered that with a glare. If the couple noticed, they gave no indication. She leaned forward, looking me directly in the eye.  
"I'm Saskali. The man sitting next to me is my husband Kadour. What's your name?"

I racked my brains, trying to remember what my real mother had called me, if she actually gave me a name. If she did, I have no memory of it. My father called me variety of names, but the one he called me the most, on the rare occasion he was sober, hardly seemed suitable. Still, it was the closest thing I had to a name, and because of that I was proud of it.  
"My name is Insufferable Pain In The Ass." I announced. Saskali flinched, and glared at Jorh and Sabnagu, who raised their hands.  
"It wasn't us!" They insisted, as Kadour chuckled nervously.  
"We can't call you that" He replied, patting me on the head.  
"But it's my name!" I protested, kicking my chair, foolishly unaware of what those words truly were. As far as I knew, that cruel insult was my name, and I was unwilling to lose such a critical part of my identity.  
"We can't call you that, my dear, because it is such a long name. How about we call you Ipita for short?" Saskali suggested, nudging her husband and smiling gently. I considered this compromise for a moment, before nodding in agreement. I'd changed my mind, maybe Saskali and Kadour weren't so bad after all.

Saskali and Kadour lived in a starship called ' _The Ebony Angel_ '. I was to sleep in the crew's quarters, in any bunk I wanted. I learned a few years later that one of the many reasons they took me in was they were convinced they couldn't have children of their own the natural way. Since I was in need of a loving family and a home, we gave one another what we needed. One year later, Saskali gave birth to a beautiful girl they called Azurha and just like that, our family of three became a family of four.


	3. Azurha

Azurha is at the same time my fondest memory and my darkest nightmare. She inherited her father's eyes, devil-may-care attitude and charm while also gaining her mother's kindness. Her hair was straight and brown and she had a birthmark shaped like a light bulb on the back of her neck. At first, I was bitter against this invasion of my family, with her constant screaming and the way she made my parents so exhausted. Yet as time passed, I became her guardian angel, her protector and we grew to cherish one another. And I failed in my duty to protect her. One day, when she was ten and I was seventeen, we were crossing the street after doing some shopping for supplies. My parents had business elsewhere and since I proficient with a blaster and old enough to look after Azurha and myself, we were alone. The equivalent of my Birthday, the day I was adopted, was nearing and I was certain Azurha had bought me something. We were about a quarter of the way across the street when out of nowhere a speeder came zooming towards us. I was well out of harm's way, but Azurha had skipped a few paces ahead of me and was directly in it's path.  
"Azurha!" I screamed, reaching down with my hand that wasn't laden down with supplies. Azurha turned to face me just as an unseen force flung her out of the speeders path. 

Straight into the path of a smaller speeder designed for wilder terrain. As it slammed into her fragile body, I heard the unmistakable sound crack and crunch of bones over her tortured scream. She crashed into and lay there, unmoving, like a dead bird torn from the sky. The speeder rider dismounted and knelt beside her while I charged towards my sister, dodging the traffic as a crowd formed around her. I shoved through the crowd, trying to reach her as a cry went up.  
"She's alive!"  
In the mayhem that followed: calling our parents, rushing Azurha to a kolto tank, convincing the crowd that I was Azurha's sister, I failed to notice the darkly robed figure watching me with great interest.

We stood around Azurha kolto tank, watching her defenceless body float. Someone told me once that the smallest coffins are the heaviest and I knew how true the phrase was at that moment. For the burden on my heart was heavier than any burden that could ever be placed on my back.  
"They have cybernetics that can give Azurha a fully functioning body, but we can barely afford the tank, let alone that." I heard my father murmur to my mother, who was wiping away her second bout of tears. I looked up Azurha's peaceful expression, fighting back tears. The doctor had told us that Azurha would lose her left arm and leg, as well as the sight in her left eye. She would never be able to even have a normal life, let alone become a starship captain like she always wanted to. It wasn't fair, for a ten-year-old to be crippled like that. But then again, one of the main things the Sith have taught me is that life is never fair. In my silent contemplation, I failed to hear the door swish open. My parents turned as a darkly robed man with rose-red skin entered, moving with the grace of a panther about to strike.  
"I'm sorry to disturb you, but I have proposition involving your two daughters."

The figure pulled back his hood, revealing a Sith with red eyes and a presence that could make grown men cower. My father, who'd faced more than his fair share of pirates with the same presence, instinctively placed himself between his family and this intruder.  
"I am Lord Salem and your older daughter did something today that shows her Force sensitivity. I would like your permission to take her away for training. In return, I shall pay for your younger daughter's treatment." He offered, meeting my father's eyes. I opened my mouth, ready to volunteer, but my father cut me off,  
"No. We already might lose one daughter, there's no kranging way we're going to lose another." Kadour snarled, his hand resting on his blaster. Salem's friendly smiled melded into a devious one as he waved his hand across my father's face.  
"You will let your daughter decide." He ordered.  
"I will let my daughter decide." Kadour repeated, removing his hand from his blaster.   
"Kadour?" Saskali asked, her hand on her own blaster and confusion painted on her face.  
"It's fine Saskali. Leave it." Kadour assured her, placing his hand on my shoulder. I cleared my throat, as if I was about to make a speech. Instead, only 4 words came out.  
"I'll go with you."

We were leaving the hospital just as they wheeled Azurha into the operating theatre. She called out to me as Lord Salem paid the bill.  
"Ipita!"  
I turned at her feeble cry to see her watching me with a despairing expression. I turned to my new master for approval and he nodded. With his consent I rushed to my sister's side. She looked like a ghost, fading before my very eyes.  
"Don't go." She begged me, her eyes half-closed from the sedatives she was resisting.  
"I have to." I replied tearfully. Azurha's undamaged hand took mine and she slipped me something.  
"Happy Adoption day." She croaked as the sedatives finally won and they took her away. I opened my hand to find a badge designed to look a planet with a belt asteroids in it. Azurha had scratched a horizontal line across the asteroid belt, splitting it in two. My Adoption day gift. With a reminder of who I was and where I came from, I joined Lord Salem on the journey to my new life.


End file.
